1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a children's activity game and specifically to a Velcro.RTM. covered game ball and to a target game utilizing the game ball.
2. Brief Statement of the Prior Art
Creativity games are well known and one of the most popular is called "TWISTER" marketed by Milton Bradley Company. In this game one or two players touch unnumbered but colored circles on a vinyl map. A number of attempts have been made to provide games which utilize the conventional hook and loop fastener material which is available under the trade designation Velcro.RTM.. These attempts have been described in a number of prior patents such as U. S. Pat. Nos. 3,032,345, 3,927,881, 3,917,271 and 3,857,566. The aforementioned patents describe games which utilize darts and balls which are covered with Velcro.RTM..
One of the difficulties in providing a game in which balls will be thrown at other players is to provide a ball that is safe for use and does not present any danger or hazard to the players. This is particularly difficult when Velcro.RTM. is used as the attachment material since Velcro.RTM. type fabrics have, heretofore, only been successfully applied to relatively hard or rigid surfaces, which are not compatible with an activity game in which the balls are thrown at players.
Since the gripping actio of Velcro.RTM. requires substantive support of its backing surface, the backing material is typically Nylon.RTM., or of similar non-chemically reactive material. As a result, gluing or solvent bonding of Velcro.RTM. strips to rigid balls has, at best, been a less than satisfactory, non-permanent solution. Target games currently on the market, using Velcro.RTM. glued to rigid balls,eventually suffer the fate of the Velcro.RTM. adhering more strongly to the target than the ball, resulting in separation of the Velcro.RTM. from the ball. Some of the Velcro.RTM. strips fall off the balls, leaving the game nearly unplayable. Gluing or solvent bonding Velcro.RTM. strips to a soft foam ball, as desirable for maximum safety to children, is possible but even less permanent or reliable than when glued to a rigid ball, as the Velcro.RTM. hook and loop fasteners adhere more tightly to each other than the bonding within the foam, resulting in tearing away the surface of the foam ball.
One attempt has been made to provide a toss ball construction in which Velcro.RTM. is secured about a light weight, expanded polystyrene ball. This attempt slits a Velcro.RTM. fabric to form a net that is secured about the ball. In this application, of course, an elastic or compressible ball cannot be used as the net formed by the slit Velcro.RTM. fabric requires a relatively non-compressible supporting surface.
The aforementioned patents have been utilized in commercial target games. Essentially these games utilize fixed or stationary targets which are placed on a supporting surface and rigid balls that are covered with Velcro.RTM. type fabrics are thrown against the targets.